ENT 650 Week 3 Blog Assignment

Focus on Sales but Think Customers

Focusing on customers is an essential factor and as important if not more so than other factors. Either you are in the selling of products or services business. There was a slogan that I remember when I was a little girl in Vietnam “Customer is King!” I did not understand then what this meant but it made full sense to me later when I became emerged in the business world. Without customers, the business cannot survive. The same as “Cash flow is King or Queen!”, said Steven Rogers in Entrepreneurial Finance. Without cash, the business cannot keep going and grow.

I believe in “your business is successful because you create and maintain happy customers.” Most customers may not expect your customer service to be perfect but they do expect you to care. For example, if they complain or bring up an issue and see you help them to resolve problem quickly and effectively. These customers may end up more loyal to your company than they were before. Take this opportunity to build your business from these “problematic or very difficult customers.” They will sing your praises if you show them the respect that they hoped for.

Research shows that most companies after they settled down, tends not to look out for the customer’s best interest. They focus more on sales and listen less to the customers. This can be a downfall or a large setback for some businesses.

With Social Media, any unhappy customers can give your business a bad review. Think about when your competitor that is offering the same product but delivered a better customer service experience. The consumer base can all change no matter how big your company is. If you don’t take care of your customers, you will lose them.

Only the customers and prospective customers can help you understand how to improve the product and service in what matter most to them, and they can explain why they made the choice to buy your product or service.

So, how to create a connection and to improve your business? How to make them share the experience with your company? You may try some strategies below:

Using customer satisfaction surveys: It is not easy to ask directly if they are happy with your product or service. However, you can get their feedback though customer satisfaction surveys. These surveys can help reveal the needed attentions and at the same time can illuminate the positives.

Speaking with customers one-on-one or as a group: Personal engagement helps us better understand the survey’s results and to comprehend the emotion behind the answers. Take advantage of this approach to strengthen the relationship. Building customer trust through caring.

Comment/survey cards at the stores: Encourage customers directly and boost participation by offering discounts or prizes. Let customers know their opinion maters to help you better serve their needs in the future.

Notes:

Make sure the survey should take less than 5 minutes to fill out.

Respect customer’s time. Should have ONLY questions that directly tie with your company’s objective to be able to produce productive feedback. Some questions such as “Rate how you feel about the quality of services” or “Which of the following services do you value most?” etc.

Follow up and take action. Make positive changes to some strategies or individuals. Customers want to see their feedback is valued and implemented. On the other hand, employees are more likely to accept a change if they understand why customers are suggesting a change.

Remember, your customer’s loyalty is a choice. If they come back for repeating business is because they want to, not because they have to.

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6 thoughts on “ENT 650 Week 3 Blog Assignment”

Your points about customer focus are excellent. All too often I get “response cards” and surveys where I think, “ok, so they are going to get my input and 10,000 others.” How are they going to learn something new from the 9,900 that differs from the first 100 who answered the survey? And will they do anything anyway? In the case of most large business, my answer would be “they won’t” to both issues. So for a small company, this is untapped value. The key then is to make sure the customer understands that their specific concern will lead to particular change.

Mary,
Many companies say they are customer focused but rarely do I hear people talk about a great experience at any type of business. It seems we have all accepted mediocre service as the standard for today. How many times have you walked into a business and the employees are on their cell phones? The business that implements a good training program on guest service from the beginning with new employees may find they are rewarded with repeat customers. A sale can be made once and good service makes it happen over and over again. Bad service may only be the first sale.
Cece

Mary,
“Research shows that most companies after they settled down, tends not to look out for the customer’s best interest. They focus more on sales and listen less to the customers. This can be a downfall or a large setback for some businesses.” This statement is not only true for small businesses but also big business. Prime example, I remember when Wal-Mart did not have any supercenters and how friendly and available the staff use to be, regardless of the time of day. Fast track to today and although Wal-mart is extremely convenient and inexpensive I’d rather spend a little more somewhere else or shop online than have to go in the store. Customer service is apart of the customer’s experience and with social media being popular companies have to make sure that they are attuned to how consumers feel about their service or products.

Another great blog post! “Your business is is successful because you create and maintain happy customers.” I love this point of view and how true it is! I know all of the other things you mentioned is true for your business too, but customer service is number one!

I believe customer service is #1 because:

1) Customers have money to spend and you want them to spend it with you, right? Yep! So, how do we get their money? We treat them like we want to be treated!

2) “Happy Wife, Happy Life” — you’ve heard of this right? Well, it’s true for anything — “Happy Customers, Happy Business”. Because if you keep your customers happy, they will continue to do business with you and eventually be your walking billboard/advertisement.

3) Listen & Implement: You need to listen to your customers when they have feedback (good or bad), and some how implement some of their concerns. Taking action shows you care!

“Most customers may not expect your customer service to be perfect but they do expect you to care.” I love this quote so much. This is missing in so much of the world, but it’s true. We need to show that we care about them, even when things don’t go as planned. And that goes for when they cause a problem or when we cause a problem. It doesn’t matter who is to blame. Excellent article, Mary.

I like the mantra, “Focus on Sales, but think Customers.” That sums up what a salesperson is supposed to do, doesn’t it? Deliver on the customer’s needs and the sales will follow. We cannot be so transaction driven–focusing only on getting the deal done–that we forget about meeting the customer’s needs. With this mantra, I believe repeat business is a given.